With Short Jail Sentences, Car Theft a Way Of Life For Repeat Offender

Spokane Police say a man was arrested for possessing a stolen car last week -- while he was already awaiting trial for the same crime. It’s definitely not the first time Daniel Wessels has had a run-in with the cops.

Wessels, a 14-time convicted felon, has been arrested 58 times and police say eleven of those arrests relate to stolen vehicles.

The latest came last Thursday, when police found Wessels behind the wheel of a car that was originally stolen back in August. Mercedes Calkins, who lives in Northwest Spokane, says Wessels stole her car months before that.

"He’s just got away with another crime and we’re out everything," said Calkins. "Thousands of dollars put into a car to get, I think it was $46 out of scrap in the end."

Court documents say Wessels stole Calkins’ car from the alley behind her home back in April. But it wasn’t just any car. She and her husband hoped their son would drive it one day.